May 5th, 2003

This is what I have been writing to local newspapers & media, trying to expose the cop and story of Bandit's Murder.  I urge you to do the same. 

"I am writing because I find it hard to believe that no one else has covered
the story regarding the Granby Cop, Officer Scirpo, who unjustly shot & killed a
family pet, Bandit, in the driveway of someone who was dog sitting him.
Bandit was profiled because of his breed type, and without any regard of who
the dog belonged to or how friendly he was, he was shot for breed
discrimination.  This was an absurdly disgusting irresponsible act on the
officer's part, and as far as we all know, has not received any sort of
reprimand due to his irresponsible actions.

I can't believe this only aired once on Fox 61 news on Wednesday, April 30th
and no other media or newspapers have covered or followed up this story since.
This is not something that can go unnoticed! If there is some sort of cover
up, it's all the more reason it should be exposed.  An eye witness to the
shooting has already been shut up by the Granby Police, and I find it hard to
believe that the media was as well! This could very well have been anyone's family
pet, yours or mine.  My dogs are like my kids! I am utterly outraged that no one

cares to cover this story and bring this cop to justice!"

Thanks to Jody of Jody's Jungle (www.jodysjungle.com) and Noel who posted the story on Jody's site, where the following information was obtained from:  http://members.tripod.com/~animom/dogs.html

"Lucia Zito is trying to find the man who saw the incident so that she can bring out the truth about the whole incident and force the Granby Police to take disciplinary action against "Officer" Scirpo. However, she is afraid that "Officer" Scirpo has intimidated the witness by hustling him off.

Granby Chief of Police is David Watkins. Police phone number is 860-844-5335, fax number 860-653-2141. Town Hall address is Granby Town Hall, 15 No. Granby Road, Granby, CT 06035. If even a few people would send a letter or fax of protest to the Chief of Police or the Mayor, that would be absolutely wonderful."

Please write the Granby Police Chief and let him know this was not acceptable behavior from someone who we should look up to to "Serve & Protect".

For Bandit's sake, please inform everyone you know!

Don't let his unjust death be labeled as  "a cop doing his duty".

   

May 20th Article from Hartford Courant:

Owner Charged After Dog Bites Officer
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Staff Report

May 20, 2003

GRANBY -- The owner of a dog that a Granby police officer shot and killed last month because the dog was biting the officer's leg has been arrested.

Lucia Zito, 35, of 125 N. Granby Road, was charged with two counts of harboring a dog to create a nuisance and one count of allowing a dog to roam. She was released on a written promise to appear in court.

The arrest, occurring several days ago, was part of the police investigation of the use of force by the officer on April 23. The investigation justified the use of force against the dog, according to Granby police.

The "investigation showed that the force was used only after the dog had bitten the officer's leg, and that the dog was still attacking the officer at the time he used deadly force toward the animal in order to get it to stop attacking him," the department said in a written statement.

The incident began when a woman called police to complain that two dogs had nearly attacked her, according to Police Chief David Watkins. When an officer went to investigate the complaint on North Granby Road, a dog came at the officer and bit him on the inside of his leg, police said.

The officer, whose name was not released by the department, fired three shots, two of them hitting the animal and killing it.

The officer returned to regular duty.
Copyright 2003, Hartford Courant